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Bismarck Class Super Dreadnought
The Bismarck class is a class of twelve planned super dreadnoughts for the Fourth German Reich Navy. The Bismarck class was originally commissioned in 2210 by the order of Kaiser Ferdinand Von Wilhelm. Four out of the planned twelve ships have been completed as of 2219 at a steady pace of one every two years. The last ship to be completed was the DKM Gneisenau in 2218. The next ship in the class, DKM Admiral Graf Spee, is expected to be completed in mid-2220. Each ship in the class will be named after a ship from the World War II Kriegsmarine. Description Design and Construction The Bismarck class was ordered to supplement existing Imperial Navy dreadnoughts, and to help the Imperial Navy gain parity with the United American Federation Navy. Design work on the new class began in the early 2200s by order of Chief Admiral Niklas von Katterfeld. Katterfeld ordered German naval design teams to create the biggest and most heavily armed ship the Reich has ever built. The Bismarck class is especially heavily armed even when compared to the Erika II class dreadnoughts designed only shortly before the Bismarcks. The Bismarck class is able to take advantage of several technological breakthroughs that were unable to be incorporated on Erika II or Fatherland class dreadnoughts. Heavy ship-based plasma weaponry is a new weapons system that is currently only found on Bismarck class ships. The Bismarck Class also features point defense laser banks which replaced aging projectile based CIWS. The design and simulation phase officially came to an end when Katterfeld approved the Bismarck class for commissioning and construction. The Kaiser officially commissioned the Bismarck class and ordered its construction shortly after. All 12 Bismarck class ships will be constructed in the Reich Shipbuilding Company shipyards orbiting Earth. The shipyards orbiting Venus have been identified as a secondary building location if needed. Construction is estimated to take 2 years on each vessel, and all 4 ships that have been completed were finished slightly ahead of schedule. Each ship is estimated to cost about 230 billion Reichsmarks. Propulsion Systems The Bismarck class features four cold fusion reactors and two FTL drives as its main propulsion systems. The cold fusion reactors provide power to the entirety of the ship and enable all of its subsystems, including the FTL drives, to function. Two FTL drives are necessary to facilitate efficient military-speed FTL travel in dreadnought size ships and are therefore standard in all German dreadnoughts. For short range travel that does not necessitate FTL, Bismarck class ships are outfitted with an impulse engine system that can achieve a top speed of 97% of the speed of light. The Bismarck class also contains an emergency thruster system for when all other forms of propulsion are non-operational. However, these are not very efficient and are only capable of moving the massive ships a short distance over a long period of time. Weapons Systems Mass Accelerator Railcannons Bismarck class dreadnoughts feature some of the most advanced weapons systems humanity has ever created. Its main weapons are 8 mass accelerator railcannons and 4 long-range plasma cannons. The mass accelerators are the cutting edge of German weapon design and are perhaps the most fearsome naval weapons ever created. Their range is limited only by the range of the sensors directing their fire, and they are capable of knocking out any known ship within just a few direct hits. These railcannons are similar in design to a standard railgun but scaled up for use as a ship's primary weaponry. A 500 ton tungsten/depleted uranium slug is accelerated to 95% of the speed of light to give this weapon its devastating firepower. The 8 railcannons are mounted in such a manner that 2 will be able to simultaneously fire on a target in any situation and all 8 will be able to fire at a target in optimal scenarios. Long-Range Plasma Cannons To supplement the mass accelerators, Bismarck class ships also feature four plasma cannons. Capitalizing on the recent breakthrough in large plasma weaponry, each Bismarck class ship will have four long-range plasma cannons mounted to provide 360 degree firing ability. These cannons only have an effective range of about 60 AU, but they can deliver overwhelming firepower on any target within their range. In simulations, the plasma cannons have easily destroyed most UAF ships while only slightly struggling against the most heavily armored UAF ships. The main advantage of ship-based plasma weaponry is its ability to burn through thick armor and to heavily disrupt kinetic shielding. Plasma weapons have repeatedly proven to be an order of magnitude more efficient than standard projectiles at disabling kinetic shielding systems. Missile Launch Tubes Bismarck class ships are equipped with 24 missile launch tubes that can be used in various roles. The primary use of missiles in German doctrine is for anti-ship missions, but missiles are used in a variety of other roles most notably orbital bombardment. German ship-based missiles are universally nuclear capable although nuclear tipped missiles are not favored over anti-ship missiles in ship to ship engagements. Naval Railguns Each ship also features 48 railguns scaled up for naval use. These railguns have an effective range of only about 40 AU and are therefore only used in close-range engagements. They are not nearly as powerful as their mass accelerator cousins, but they are still able to reliably destroy most vessels smaller than a heavy cruiser. Naval designers envisioned these weapons being used against destroyer flotillas or the light cruisers in an enemy fleet. Light Cannons The most numerous weapon on these ships are the 96 light cannons. With an effective range of only 20 AU, the light cannons are only used in the closest engagements and only against the smallest ships. While light cannons will struggle to knock out an enemy destroyer, they are very effective against smaller ships. They can also act as flak against enemy strike craft threatening the dreadnought. Point Defense Weapons The dreadnought's last line of defense is the point defense laser banks. Operating through hundreds of hull-mounted turrets, the laser banks have proven to be much more effective than the projectile based CIWS of the past. Although point defense is not prioritized on dreadnoughts, the laser banks have proven to be very efficient against enemy drones and star fighters. Each Bismarck class ship also has 4 hangar bays to launch star fighters for anti-strike craft missions and missions that require entering a planet's atmosphere. Armor and Protection Systems Battleplate The Bismarck class features a 20 meter thick titanium-alloy battleplate which is the thickest armor ever mounted on an Imperial Navy ship. In simulations, the battleplate has proven to be capable against several UAF mass accelerator and plasma cannon hits, effective against railguns and anti-ship missiles and nearly invulnerable to smaller cannons. Heat Dissipation Layer Underneath the battleplate is the armor's heat dissipation layer. This layer attempts to take excess heat from direct hits and spread it throughout the layer to minimize the heat damage to the ship. This layer has been effective against standard kinetic weapons but has struggled against newer plasma weaponry. Shock Absorption Layer The last layer in the armor is the shock absorption layer. This layer attempts to absorb as much force from an impact as possible to protect the ship's interior and its crew. Kinetic Shielding To supplement the armor, these ships also have dreadnought-tier kinetic shielding systems. However, due to German naval doctrine and technological focus, these shielding systems are very weak and can be penetrated by repeated hits from most weaponry and only a single mass accelerator hit. Torpedo Avoidance and Laser Refraction Systems Bismarck class ships also possess torpedo avoidance systems and new laser refraction systems. The torpedo avoidance system is linked with the ship's onboard computer; the ship's computer has full authority to make necessary course adjustments to avoid torpedoes that the crew may not be able to respond to quickly enough. Laser refraction systems employ refractive smoke to neutralize laser weapons rendering most laser weapons ineffective against the Bismarck class. Navigation and Sensor Systems The Bismarck class ships are fitted with state-of-the-art German navigation and sensor systems. The navigational and weapons targeting systems are AI assisted* providing extreme efficiency. The ships are also equipped with two full system-wide sensor arrays that are able to provide very accurate information on an entire system. *Note that AI assisted does not refer to a sentient artificial intelligence, rather it refers to assistance from the ship's advanced on-board computer system. Ships in Class * DKM Bismarck * DKM Tirpitz * DKM Scharnhorst * DKM Gneisenau * DKM Admiral Graf Spee Service History The only notable event in which a Bismarck class dreadnought was deployed was during a riot on a GGR mining colony on the outskirts of the Sol system. The DKM Tirpitz was deployed as part of a task force to help restore order to the colony. The colony was eventually nuked during the course of the riot; it is not known if the nuclear weapon was launched from the Tirpitz although the Tirpitz is capable of launching nuclear missiles. Other than the mining colony incident, the completed Bismarck class ships have been deployed on routine patrol missions and have participated in several war games exercises.